Strand International Piano Series 2023/24 — Concert 20 — Beethoven Sonatas

About the Event

St Mary le Strand (The 'Jewel' of the Strand) plays host to the second Strand International Piano Series. Further to its launch to great acclaim in the 2022‐23 season, the new series will feature all 32 of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas. London's most intimate concert venue boasts stunning architecture, beautiful acoustics and a brand new Steinway concert grand piano.

Sam Haywood has performed in many of the world’s major concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Philharmonie de Paris, Vienna Konzerthaus and the Wigmore Hall. The New York Times hailed his ‘‘Passionate flair and sparkling clarity’ and the Washington Post his ‘dazzling, evocative playing’. He has a special fondness for Indonesia, where he has performed and taught for many years. He embraces a wide spectrum of the piano repertoire and is equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician or working with singers. He has toured extensively as a duo with American violinist Joshua Bell and also with cellist Steven Isserlis. He has composed several instrumental miniatures, including ‘The Other Side’, first performed at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. His Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano, dedicated to Roger Birnstingl, is published by Emerson Editions. Passionate about early instruments, Sam recorded a Chopin album on the composer’s own Pleyel piano, part of the Cobbe Collection, to celebrate his bicentenary in 2010. For Sony he has recorded a selection of works by the child prodigy Alma Deutscher. Haywood is also Artistic Director and co‐founder of the Solent Music Festival, which takes place annually in the beautiful sailing town of Lymington, UK. 2022 will mark the festival’s tenth anniversary. He is currently based in Thessaloniki.